week 16

Since we're 16 weeks in at this point, I figured it's a good time to throw everyone for a loop. This week I thought it would be fun to tackle a widely disliked type of cover, the dreaded “Cosplay Cover”.

Let's be honest, most published cosplay covers are underwhelming. However, that doesn't mean there are no good cosplay images out on the internet. It's really the opposite.

The thing that's actually really cool about good cosplay, is it proves that comic/superhero costumes can work… If you know what you're doing.

Let's take this Huntress cosplay as an example. The photo is by BennyLeePhotography and the model, Riddle also made the costume. Clearly Riddle took her own creative liberties with this design but it still screams Huntress. This is incredible and the attention to detail is top shelf. It puts the majority of TV superhero costumes to shame… and i'm not even exaggerating.

Next up is Black Cat, and it's funny, there are so many Black Cat cosplay images I could have picked from. I was looking at images beyond the model or the outfit to start narrowing it down. It needed to… well, in all honesty it need to pass the, “if Dell'Otto painted it rather than being a photo, would people buy it” test. This cosplay image is the work of Rinaca and Michael la-Cour, both from Denmark.

Next up… Well. It was going to be Harley Quinn until I got tired of scrolling. Not to mention, which Harley Quinn to feature? Classic, Bombshell's, Steampunk, Suicide Squad, New 52, Injustice… Arkham Asylum? So I ended up going with…

Green Arrow!

We haven't had a Green Arrow cover yet, so why not. Yeah, I know, it should be a dude, but can I tell you, this just felt like it would work as a cover. It jumped out at me from a sea of images. That's no small task and granted, it was after scrolling through hundreds of Harley images, so something green would definitely stand out. Still, I think it would spring off a comic rack if it was an actual cover.

Ok, so that's it for this week, I'll spare you any more cosplay for today. Next week will be back to good old regular artwork… but I think you'll agree. Cosplay, done well, is an art form all it's own.

9 comments

Awesome twist. I agree, cosplay done right can be featured front and center. These mock-ups are all better than Marvel’s mess of cosplay covers. How hard could it be to find a decent photographer and add in some effects here and there to make the covers look good?

Marvel has always had the problem of being more concerned with people willing to play the “kiss ass game” then bringing on board people who actually know what they are talking about. They’d rather surround themselves with a bunch of yes men/women than people who will speak up and say “dude, this looks like crap, you can’t put the Marvel brand on this.”

If Marvel were interested in having me consult and raising their Art direction bar or talent scout game they can reach out. I’m really not hard to get in touch with.

Cosplay is a polarizing piece within comics. Done right, it can be amazing – almost movie like costumes or better. The imagination and or ingenuity side of some is truly remarkable. On the flip side – it can be as cheesy as a bad 80s Sci fi flick. There is a fine line. It’s tough some costumes belong in panels only, when they come to fruition in the real world, they just don’t look right. Those ones you listed all are top notch and worth sharing. Thanks Skot!

I absolutely agree. With 5% more effort, some of these Cosplay covers could have been great. Unfortunately, most look like they were photographed in the parking lot of a local con.
We should expect higher quality production from a major publishing company.

I don’t know if effort would have helped some of those Marvel cosplay covers. lol

It’s kinda like… well there’s this idea that if someone has a pirated copy of photoshop that suddenly makes them a graphic designer. Some people have cameras and suddenly they think they are a photographer. There’s a lot that goes into taking a good photo and not just doing it in a parking lot at a con… which one would think should be a given.